Solar PV system sizing

i. Determine power consumption demands

The first step in designing a solar PV system is to find out the total power and
energy consumption of all loads that need to be supplied by the solar PV system :

a. Calculate total Watt-hours per day for each appliance used.

b. Add the Watt-hours needed for all appliances together to get the total Watt-
hours per day which must be delivered to the appliances.
Solar PV system sizing

ii. Calculate total Watt-hours per day needed from the PV modules.

• Multiply the total appliances Watt-hours per day times 1.3 (the total
energy lost in the system is about 30%) to get the total Watt-hours
per day which must be provided by the panels.
iii. Size the PV modules

• Different size of PV modules will produce different amount of power. To find out the
sizing of PV module, the total peak watt produced needs.

a.The peak watt (Wp) produced depends on size of the PV module and climate of site
location.

b.We have to consider panel generation factor which is different in each site location.

• For Oman, the Panel Generation Factor (PGF) is 3.5.

To determine the sizing of PV modules

c. Calculate the total Watt-peak rating needed for PV modules Divide

the total Watt-hours per day needed from the PV modules by PGF
(=3.5) to get the total Watt-peak rating needed for the PV panels
needed to operate the appliances.
To determine the sizing of PV modules

• iv. Calculate the number of PV panels for the system

a. Divide the answer obtained in the above item by the rated output
Watt-peak of the PV modules available to you.

b. Increase any fractional part of result to the next highest full number
and that will be the number of PV modules required.
  Inverter sizing

• An inverter is used in the system where AC power output is needed.

• The inverter must have the same nominal voltage as your battery.

• For stand-alone systems, the inverter must be large enough to

handle the total amount of Watts you will be using at one time.

• The inverter size should be 25-30% bigger than total Watts of

appliances.
 Inverter sizing

• In case of appliance type is motor or compressor then inverter size

should be minimum 3 times the capacity of those appliances and
must be added to the inverter capacity to handle surge current during
starting.

• For grid tie systems or grid connected systems, the input rating of the
inverter should be same as PV array rating to allow for safe and
efficient operation.
Battery sizing
• The battery type recommended for using in solar PV
system is deep cycle battery.

• Deep cycle battery is a battery designed to be

regularly deeply discharged using most of its
capacity.

• The battery should be large enough to store

sufficient energy to operate the appliances at night
 Battery sizing

• 4.1 Calculate total Watt-hours per day used by appliances.

4.2 Divide the total Watt-hours per day used by 0.85 for battery loss.
4.3 Divide the answer obtained in item 4.2 by 0.6 for depth of discharge.

• Depth of Discharge is defined as the capacity that is discharged from a fully charged battery,
divided by battery nominal capacity.
4.4 Divide the answer obtained in item 4.3 by the nominal battery voltage.

•  4.5 Multiply the answer obtained in item 4.4 with days of autonomy (the number of days that you need
the system to operate when there is no power produced by PV panels) to get the required
           Ampere-hour capacity of deep-cycle battery.
• Battery Capacity (Ah) = Total Watt-hours per day used by appliances x Days of autonomy
(0.85 x 0.6 x nominal battery voltage)
Solar charge controller sizing

• solar charge controller is typically rated against Amperage and Voltage

capacities.

• Select the solar charge controller to match the voltage of PV array and
batteries and then identify which type of solar charge controller is right
for your application.

• Make sure that solar charge controller has enough capacity to handle
the current from PV array.
Solar charge controller sizing

• For the series charge controller type, the sizing of controller depends on the

total PV input current which is delivered to the controller and also depends
on PV panel configuration (series or parallel configuration).

• According to standard practice, the sizing of solar charge controller is to take

the short circuit current (Isc) of the PV array, and multiply it by 1.3

• Solar charge controller rating = Total short circuit current of PV array x 1.3
Example:

• A house has the following electrical appliance usage:

• One 18 Watt fluorescent lamp with electronic ballast used 4hours per day.

• One 60 Watt fan used for 2 hours per day.

• One 75 Watt refrigerator that runs 24 hours per day with compressor run 12
hours and off 12 hours.
• The system will be powered by 12 Vdc, 110 Wp PV module.
Solution

• Determine power consumption demands

Total appliance use = (18 W x 4 hours) + (60 W x 2 hours) + (75W x 24

x 0.5 hours) =

1,092 Wh/dayTotal PV

panels energy needed = 1,092 x 1.3 = 1,419.6 Wh/day.

Size the PV panel
Total Wp of PV panel capacity needed= 1,419.6 / 3.4 = 413.9 Wp
Number of PV panels needed= 413.9 / 110 = 3.76modules
Actual requirement = 4 modules
So this system should be powered by at least 4 modules of110 Wp PV
module
Inverter sizing

Total Watt of all appliances = 18 + 60 + 75 = 153 W

For safety, the inverter should be considered 25-30% bigger size.
The inverter size should be about 190 W or greater.
 Battery sizing

Total appliances use = (18 W x 4 hours) + (60 W x 2 hours) + (75 W x 12 hours)

Nominal battery voltage = 12 V

Days of autonomy = 3 days•Battery capacity = [(18 W x 4 hours) + (60 W x 2

hours) + (75 W x 12 hours)]x 3(0.85 x 0.6 x 12)

Total Ampere-hours required 535.29 Ah

So the batery should be rated 12 V 600 Ah for 3 day autonomy

Solar charge controller sizing

PV module specification

Pm = 110 Wp

Vm = 16.7

VdcIm = 6.6

AVoc = 20.7 AIsc = 7.5 ASolar charge controller rating = (4 strings x 7.5 A) x 1.3 = 39
A

So the solar charge controller should be rated 40 A at 12 V or greater

Use of PV cells
• PV cells can be used for
i. domestic lighting.
ii. street lighting.
iii. water pumping.
iv. electrification.
v. desalination of salty water.
vi. powering of remote telecommunication repeater stations
vii. railway signals.
Solar Power Tower
Solar Power Tower uses hundreds of small sun tracking mirrored solar
dish
collectors,called―heliostats‖usedtoreflectthesunlightdirectlyontothe
heat absorbing receiver. A power tower has a circular array of large
two-axis tracking reflective dishes or flat
multiplemirrorheliostatsonthegroundthataccuratelyfollowthesun‘spath
acrossthesky during the day.
• These reflective dishes capture and concentrate the sunlight onto a
central
receivermountedatthetopofthehigh―solarpowertower‖.Theseheliost
atsarebasically large mirrors equipped with computer controlled sun
tracking mechanisms that keep the mirrors aligned so the reflected
rays of the sun are always aimed at the blackened heat absorbing
receiver creating a focal point.
• The height of the solar tower on which the central receiver is
mounted also plays a role in the layout of the heliostat field. Higher
towers of between 80 to 110 meters are preferred as larger denser
heliostat fields can be used reducing the effects of shading.
• A high temperature heat transfer fluid or working medium in the
central receiver absorbs the highly concentrated radiation reflected
by the heliostat field and converts this EERE 2201 – INTRODUCTION
TO RENEWABLE ENERGY ENGG_CC_LECTURE NOTES_17Dec2018_V02
Page 32 thermal energy into superheated high pressure steam to be
used on the ground to spin a series of turbines, much like a traditional
power plant to generate electricity.
• By focusing the sunlight, high temperatures can be achieved from
800°C to well over 1000°C. However, not all of the heliostats are used
to concentrate their reflected solar energy on the tower at the same
time to avoid overheat. The heat transfer medium used for most
modern type solar power towers includes water/steam, molten salts,
liquid sodium, oil and even air. Early solar tower designs
• focusedthesun‘sraystoheatplainwaterinahighpressurecoldwatertypeta
nkmounted at the top of the tower and then used the resulting
generated steam to power a turbine generator. Nowadays, the newer
solar power tower uses molten salt such as sodium nitrate (NaNO3)
as an efficient transfer medium but water is still used as a coolant for
the receiver. The use of molten salt means that the absorbed heat can
be stored for many hours and used at night or on low solar energy
days.
• 2.8 Terminologies of Solar Radiation and angles Insolation – measure
of solar radiation energy received on a given surface area in a given
time, expressed in kWh/m2 . (1kWh = 3600 kJ = 3.6 MJ = 1 electrical
unit) Direct insolation – solar radiance that directly hits the earth‘s
surface, expressed in kW/m2 .
• Diffuse insolation – solar radiance that is scattered or reflected by the
atmospheric components, such as clouds, dust, etc. Solar Irradiation –
the amount of solar radiation received per unit area on a given
surface, expressed in kW/m2 .
• Declination angle (δ) – angle made by the descending line or plane
with the horizontal plane. Where, N = Number of days in a year N = 1
for January 1. 23.5 sin [( 360 365) (284 N)] Equation 2-1 Declination
angle Hour angle (ω) – the angular displacement of sun from solar
noon. One hour corresponds to 15°. ( 360 24 ) 12 LocalStandardTime)
Equation 2-2 Hour angle The hour angle will be +15° when the time is
11.00 (11.00 am) and will be – 22.5° when the time is 13.30 (that
means 1.30 pm) Solar Altitude angle (α) -
theanglebetweenthesun‘sraysandahorizontalplane. Where ɸ =
Latitude of the location. sin [sin sin ] [cos cos cos ]
• Equation 2-3 Solar Altitude angle Solar Azimuth angle (Z) - the angle
between true south and the point on the horizon directly below the
sun. It specifies how many degrees the surface of the thermal
collector or photovoltaic module deviates from the exact south-facing
direction. The azimuth angle depends on the geographical location of
the observer, the date, time and time zone. tan sin [sin cos ] [cos tan ]
• Equation 2-4 Solar Azimuth angle Solar Zenith angle (ϴz) – angle
between the zenith and center of sun‘s disk. (Zenith means the
highest point in an arc traveled by a star (sun). The sun reaches its
zenith when it is as high in the sky as it is going to go on that day) (90 )
• Problem 2.2 :
Calculatethesun‘saltitudeangleandazimuthangleat7.30amonAugust1,
2019 for a location at 40° N latitude.
• Problem 2.3 :
Determinethesun‘saltitudeangleandazimuthangleat3.00pmonJune15,
2019 for a location at 23.58° N latitude
Overall the uses of solar energy
• Solar water heating
• Solar drying
• Solar cooking
• Solar desalination
• Solar cooling
• Solar power generation